Straight out of central casting, by way of west Texas, quarterback Colt McCoy, the Longhorns' redshirt freshman, will be starting the biggest game in Austin in a half-century Saturday when No. 1 Ohio State visits No. 2 Texas.

In the first game of his college career, an opportunity he has prepared for seemingly since birth, McCoy made the transition from the Vince Young era look seamless as the Longhorns cruised to 56-7 victory last week against North Texas. McCoy completed 12 of 19 passes for 178 yards and three touchdowns, including a 60-yard strike to Limas Sweed on his second pass of the game, and ran for another score.

McCoy's promise is a headline writer's dream as the possibilities for gunslinger puns are endless. Three players with the last name McCoy are on the Texas roster. The other two are brothers who are walk-ons. So Colt indeed is the Real McCoy.

Next week, Texas plays Rice. If Ken Hatfield were still the coach, it would be Hatfield vs. McCoy. Colt's number isn't 45, but he did become the first Texas freshman quarterback to win a season opener since '44, when Hall of Famer Bobby Layne did it.

McCoy's performance against North Texas was the best debut for a freshman quarterback in coach Mack Brown's nine years at Texas. McCoy, 6-3 and 195 pounds, is the only Texas player among the four freshman quarterbacks who started under Brown (Major Applewhite, Chris Simms and Young are the others) who did not throw an interception in his first start.

Before his first game, McCoy asked Brown, "Is it normal I'm not nervous?" and Brown told him yes because that means he was prepared. Such cool might bode well for the pressure and hype of Saturday's game of the millennium.

"He doesn't seem like the kind of guy to get worked up," Texas offensive tackle Justin Blalock says. "I don't think (Ohio State) will affect him as much as people would expect, from a freshman especially. It's just not his nature to be uptight. I've never really seen him get frustrated in practice or get angry about anything."

McCoy says, "I've been waiting for this my whole life."

Raised in Tuscola, Texas (pop: 714), the son of a high school coach, McCoy says one of his first football memories is of a hit he took at 4, as the water boy for his dad's team. McCoy was standing on the sideline when one of the players ran out of bounds and knocked him flat, breaking his collarbone.

McCoy went on to play for his dad, Brad, at Jim Ned High School in Texas' 2A classification, which is three tiers below the best competition in the state. He ranks as the all-time leading passer in Texas 2A history — he threw for 9,344 yards — and is fourth overall in Texas high school history. His 116 touchdowns rank second in Texas high school history. He lost only two games in high school and won a state championship as a senior.

His rise from a one (blinking) stoplight town to the biggest stage in the state gave hope to small-town kids everywhere.

"There are a lot of really good small schools in this state; they just happen to be in small towns," Brown said. "Colt was raised by a coach, so he's been to every clinic and every camp. He's prepared to be the quarterback at Texas his entire life. So it's not like a shock for him."

Even before he was named the starter for the Longhorns, McCoy's legend was large, thanks to off-the-field heroics. During Memorial Day weekend, when McCoy was visiting his parents, he saved a neighbor's life by swimming 300 yards across a lake in the dark to help a man who was having a seizure.

Last season, however, he was just a little-known redshirt. He was on the sideline when Texas knocked off the Buckeyes 25-22 in Columbus.

"The best thing I got to do was watch Vince last year," McCoy says. "His poise was unbelievable. He just went out there and had fun and played with his teammates and did what Coach (Greg) Davis (UT's offensive coordinator) told him to do, and look where he is now. Looking back, I think my dad and just growing up around the game my entire life has let me be confident and comfortable."

Still, no one expects Colt McCoy to be Vince Young. But if the results are the same against Ohio State, it won't matter.